Barely a week goes by without another Kent pub closing - and recent hikes to employers’ national insurance and the minimum wage are set to make surviving even tougher.

Yet amid uncertain times for the industry, some are finding ways to make it work.

None more so than The Dog House, located at Evegate Business Park on the A20, a 10-minute drive from Ashford.

Despite being out of town and having little footfall, the micropub is often packed with punters.

What’s more, it has the highest rating on Tripadvisor of any “restaurant” in the district.

So what’s the secret to their success?

“It's not rocket science,” says landlord Duncan Randall.

“It's tables, chairs, beer, food and music.”

It sounds like such a simple formula - surely something everyone could follow?

But there is slightly more to it than that.

Another key ingredient is being “non-pretentious”.

Pointing to the tables dotted around the premises, Duncan says: “Effectively, we're eating off scaffold boards, and it's old furniture.

“It's not fancy, it's not glitzy.

“We know that. It's simple food done well.

“We always said that we'd never do steaks, because it is such a personal thing.

“We don’t do Sunday roasts, because no one does it as good as your mum or dad, and we don’t want to compete with that.”

Things are going well now - but Duncan admits running a pub can be “the hardest job in the world”.

It was not the most auspicious start for The Dog House, opening in 2019, just nine months before the first Covid lockdown.

Every pub had to shut its doors for the duration - and, sadly, many ended up closing for good.

But The Dog House adapted and started delivering beers across Kent - going as far as Sutton Valance and New Romney.

“We were selling 10 casks a week through lockdown - that’s 700 pints,” says Duncan.

“We were going out delivering that across the county, which was mad, and delivering it right next door to pubs that were closed.

“Rather than there being a bar separating us, we were knocking on people's doors, we were meeting their wives, their children, their family, and standing on the doorstep for sometimes half an hour having a chinwag.

“Those people have supported us massively throughout the rest of the years.”

Being community-focused - using local suppliers and running charity events - is something the 50-year-old believes helps the pub flourish.

Being front and centre of the business is also key, and he thinks it is an area where some boozers could be going wrong.

“If you're going to be in the industry, you've got to be here,” he explained.

“You’ve got to be customer-facing, you've got to be present, you’ve got to be able to say thank you to people.

“They're choosing to spend their hard-earned cash in our establishment, and I'm forever grateful to everybody who spends anything in this place.

“People buy people, so I'm here working behind the bar, I'm getting involved, I'm talking to people, I'll come around and sit with people and have a chat with them, make sure their food's okay and make sure their beer's okay.

“I think that’s really important.”

Music is also a passion for the landlord, as the decor shows.

While much of the wall space is dog-themed to match the pub’s name, the rest is filled with vinyls and musical memorabilia.

Duncan keeps a packed line-up year-round to keep customers coming.

“There will be 620 live performances here a year, and that is factored into our budget,” he says.

“If you imagine a musician's £100 for the night, we've got to sell effectively 100 additional pints to be able to pay that £100.

“That's the reality. So, a lot of the pubs at the moment that are diving into live music, where they haven't budgeted for it and they're starting from zero, are going to find it hard.”

The only days you won’t find live music are Tuesdays.

Every Monday is Five from Five, which sees five artists play five tracks, every other Wednesday is Guitar Club, Thursday is a quiz, bingo, and two open mic nights through the month, and there are live performances on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon too.

Duncan runs The Dog House with his wife Claire and describes his team - which includes his children Luke and Hannah - as “absolute gold”.

“It means then that we can step back, don't have to focus all of our time on making sure the pub's running, they're doing that for us,” he says.

“This job can be the hardest job in the world, but it can also be the easiest job in the world with a bloody good laugh if you've got a good team around you.”

The venue’s location is unique, being inside a business park. It has become the obvious “local” for staff at the other firms based there.

Duncan says: “Evegate looks after us in a very good way.

“Our rent, electricity and everything else are fair.

“I'm not going to say it's cheap - because it's not - but it's fair.”

Evegate also allowed the venue to expand into a neighbouring unit in October 2023. Previously, when they just had one room, they were quickly reaching capacity and having to turn customers away at the door.

Though business is booming, changes introduced in the Labour government’s first Budget will prove a challenge.

Duncan explains: “Since April, for the next year, we will have to make an additional £14,000 just to stay the same.

“That’s £40 a day extra, to cover mostly national insurance and minimum wage increases.

“We're going to have to put our prices up, but it's not for us to make more money to sit in the bank - it's for us just to carry on doing what we're doing.”

A change in drinking habits has also had an impact.

“Clubbing doesn't happen anymore,” Duncan says.

“Going out and getting drunk in a pub doesn't really happen without doing pre-drinks.

“More people want alcohol-free too, so you've got to spread yourself so thinly across everybody.”

Currently, the micro pub makes between £1 and £1.50 per pint. That figure loosely factors in the cask, the beer-line cleaner, the staff to pour it and cleaning the glass after.

The menu offers dishes including sandwiches, chips, burgers and curries - with nothing costing more than £16.

Duncan wants his customers to love his pub just as much as he does.

He admits he encourages them to review it on Tripadvisor, where it currently has a 4.8 out of 5 rating - trumping the likes of Boys Hall, which is in the Michelin Guide.

He’s also not afraid to reply to comments on the website if he thinks they are wrong.

“It's something I've really pushed for,” he says.

“I really want people to review us, but I want them to praise in public and berate in private.

“That's how it should be.

“If you've got something bad to say, come and have a word with me because I'll sort it out.”